Department of Justice

United States Attorney William C. Killian Eastern District of Tennessee

Former Sevier County Realtor Sentenced to 24 Months In Prison For Fraud, Money Laundering And Tax Offenses

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Jacky Randall McCarter, 54, of Sevierville, Tenn., was sentenced to serve 24 months in prison in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville, by the Honorable Thomas W. Phillips, U.S. District Judge. The sentence was the result of guilty pleas by McCarter on June 22, 2011, to an information charging him with five counts of making false statements to Tennessee State Bank, one count of money laundering, and one count of failing to file federal income tax returns. McCarter, who ran a real estate agency in Sevierville from 1990 through 2009, secured five successive loans from Tennessee State Bank with fraudulent property deeds.

In response to questions pertaining to McCarter’s character, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Criminal Investigation Division Special Agent Susanne Lee testified at the sentencing hearing that McCarter engaged in multiple convoluted transactions in which he defrauded multiple individual victims and two youth football leagues in Sevier County over the course of several years. McCarter also falsified deeds in order to obtain loans at Tennessee State Bank. Special Agent Lee likened it to a real estate “Ponzi scheme” in which McCarter would use money fraudulently obtained from one person in order to pay “lulling payments” to others whom he had previously duped. Special Agent Lee testified that McCarter even created fictitious purchasers to trick his victims into believing that their properties had been sold.

Special Agent Lee summarized McCarter’s income figures for 2004 through 2008 and concluded that McCarter derived over $430,000 in legal income and over $713,000 in illegal income during the period, despite having failed to file any federal income tax returns since 1998. As part of the sentence, the Court ordered McCarter to pay restitution to Tennessee State Bank in the amount of $290,116.97 and the IRS in the amount of $228,747.65. McCarter is also being prosecuted in Sevier County Criminal Court for the defrauding individuals out of their money.

The prosecution and subsequent conviction of McCarter was the result of a three year investigation conducted by the IRS Criminal Investigation Division. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew T. Morris.

U.S. Attorney William C. “Bill” Killian stated that, “ McCarter used his position as a trusted realtor in his community and his real estate experience to defraud individuals and obtain bank loans with false property deeds. This prosecution and sentence sends a clear message that those persons who try to cheat the banking system will be severely punished.”